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Damu Smith 1952-2006: Legendary Peace Activist Dies After
Battle with Colon Cancer
Retired CIA Analyst Ray McGovern Takes on Rumsfeld Over Justification
for Iraq Invasion
FBI Counterterrorism Unit Spies on Peace Group School of
the Americas Watch
FBI Targeted Freelance Journalist Covering FTAA Miami Talks
Evo Morales Nationalizes Gas Resources in Bolivia
Bullets in the Hood: Bed-Stuy Documentary Goes on Tour to
Raise Awareness About Gun Violence
Damu Smith 1952-2006: Legendary Peace Activist Dies
After Battle with Colon Cancer
Legendary peace activist Damu Smith died Friday morning
in Washington, DC of colon cancer. The founder of Black Voices
for Peace and the National Black Environmental Justice Network,
he spent years fighting environmental racism, particularly
in the South. [includes rush
transcript]
He was a key leader in the anti-Apartheid movement and fought
police brutality in Washington, DC and around the country.
Damu was diagnosed with colon cancer last year while on a
peace mission in the Occupied Territories. He then not only
fought for his life, but against racial disparities in the
health care system. Damu is survived by his daughter Aisha
and his legacy lives on in all those who fight for justice.
- Damu Smith, speaking at the first annual Unvarnished
Truth Awards in Washington D.C., September 2005.
Damu Smith on Democracy Now!
Retired CIA Analyst Ray McGovern Takes on Rumsfeld
Over Justification for Iraq Invasion
Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld comes under fire from retired
CIA analyst Ray McGovern at a speech in Atlanta on Thursday.
Rumsfeld was interrupted by protesters several times in his
address. We speak with McGovern and play excerpts from the
event. [includes rush
transcript]
Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld traveled to Atlanta on
Thursday to speak at the Southern Center for International
Studies. Minutes after he began speaking, a protester held
up a yellow banner that read "Guilty of War Crimes"
and then began to shout. Moments later, Rumsfeld was interrupted
several times by other members of the audience. By the end
of his speech, security had escorted three protesters out
of the building.
Rumsfeld then began taking questions from the audience. Ray
McGovern, a retired CIA analyst who spent 27 years at the
agency, questioned the Defense Secretary about the administration's
justification for the invasion of Iraq.
- Ray McGovern questions Donald Rumsfeld
Ray McGovern joins us now from Atlanta, GA.
- Ray McGovern, 27-year career analyst with the CIA. He
is co-founder of Veteran Intelligence Professionals for
Sanity.
FBI Counterterrorism Unit Spies on Peace Group School
of the Americas Watch
The ACLU released evidence Thursday showing that the FBI
has been monitoring the peace group, School of Americas Watch.
The group conducts research on the U.S Army School of the
Americas, now renamed the Western Hemisphere Institute for
Security Cooperation. SOA Watch is the latest organization
that has been found to have been subject to U.S government
surveillance in the name of counterterrorism efforts. [includes
rush
transcript]
The ACLU released evidence Thursday showing that the FBI
has been monitoring the peace group, School of Americas Watch.
SOA Watch was founded by Father Roy Bourgeois in 1990. The
group conducts research on the U.S Army School of the Americas,
now renamed the Western Hemisphere Institute for Security
Cooperation. The School, which is located at Fort Benning,
Georgia, trains hundreds of soldiers from Latin America each
year and is funded entirely by the U.S government. SOA Watch
holds an annual vigil calling for the closure of the facility.
Last year the vigil drew 19,000 people.
SOA Watch is the latest organization that the ACLU has found
to have been subject to U.S government surveillance in the
name of counterterrorism efforts. In December, NBC News revealed
the existence of a secret Pentagon database to track intelligence
gathered inside the United States including information on
anti-war protests and rallies. The database included information
on counter-military recruiting meetings held at a Quaker Meeting
House in Lake Forth, Florida and anti-nuclear protests staged
in Nebraska on the 50th anniversary of the U.S. atomic bombing
of Nagasaki.
And in March the ACLU uncovered files showing that the FBI
had been monitoring and possibly infiltrating the Thomas Merton
Center which is a Pittsburgh-based peace center, actively
opposed to the war in Iraq.
FBI Targeted Freelance Journalist Covering FTAA Miami
Talks
Newly-released documents reveal that the FBI spied on freelance
journalist David Lippman as he was covering the Free Trade
Area of the Americas summit in Miami in 2003. The documents
indicate Lippman was under surveillance for being a "known
protestor w/history." The American Civil Liberties Union
is filing a lawsuit on his behalf. [includes rush
transcript]
- Dave Lippman, freelance journalist who is suing the FBI
for spying on him during the Free Trade Area of the Americas
summit in Miami in 2003.
Evo Morales Nationalizes Gas Resources in Bolivia
Leaders from Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil and Venezuela gathered
Thursday for an emergency summit do discuss Bolivia's decision
to nationalize its natural gas fields and refineries. We speak
with Larry Birns of the Council on Hemispheric Affairs. [includes
rush
transcript]
In South America, leaders from Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil
and Venezuela gathered Thursday for an emergency summit do
discuss Bolivia's decision to nationalize its natural gas
fields and refineries.
President Evo Morales' May Day announcement took many in
the region by surprise. Bolivia is threatening to evict any
foreign company in six months if it does not renegotiate its
contract and hand over control of production to the government.
Brazil and Argentina will likely be affected most by the
decision since they import large quantities of Bolivia's gas.
On Thursday, Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez praised Evo
Morales' decision.
- Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, speaking May 4th, 2006.
Meanwhile Evo Morales defended his call saying the country's
natural resources must be controlled by the people of Bolivia
not international corporations.
- President Evo Morales, speaking May 4th, 2006.
We take a look at the latest in Bolivia:
Bullets in the Hood: Bed-Stuy Documentary Goes on
Tour to Raise Awareness About Gun Violence
Downtown Community Television is launching an anti-gun violence
tour in New York City and elsewhere featuring the award-winning
film "Bullets in the Hood: A Bed-Stuy Story." The
film was made by two 19 year-olds, raised in Brooklyn's public
housing projects, who had lost 11 friends to gun-violence
in the streets of New York. [includes rush
transcript]
We end today's program looking at the issue of gun violence.
Downtown Community Television
- located in the same firehouse studios we are broadcasting
out of - is launching an anti-gun
violence tour in New York City and the Tri-State area.
The tour features the film "Bullets
in the Hood: A Bed-Stuy Story" produced at DCTV.
The film was made by two 19 year-olds, raised in Brooklyn's
public housing projects, who had lost 11 friends to gun-violence
in the streets of New York City. Instead of picking up a gun,
they picked up cameras, and made a movie to try and put an
end to the violence.
The film focuses on the fatal shooting of Timothy Stansbury
by a police officer on the roof of a Bedford-Stuyvesant housing
project on January 24th, 2004. He was 19 years old. His friend
Terrence Fisher was standing behind him when he was shot.
Terrence documented the tense hours and days after the shooting
with a fellow filmmaker. The result was the film Bullets in
the Hood: A Bed-Stuy Story. It was been screened at national
and international film festivals including Sundance, where
it won the 2005 Special Jury Prize in Short Filmmaking.
- "Bullets in the Hood: A Bed-Stuy Story", excerpt
of documentary.
- Phyllis Clayburne, her son, Timothy Stansbury, was shot
dead by a police officer on the roof of a Bedford-Stuyvesant
housing project on January 24th, 2004. He was 19 years old.
For a copy of today’s program, call 1 (800) 881 2359.
Our website is www.democracynow.org.
Our email address is mail@democracynow.org.
Democracy Now! is produced by Mike Burke, Sharif Abdel Kouddous,
Ana Nogueira, Elizabeth Press, Jeremy Scahill and Parvez Sharma.
Mike Di Filippo is our engineer.
Thanks also to Uri Galed, Angela Alston, Orlando Richards,
Simba Russeau, Johnny Sender, Rich Kim, Joe Murgio, John Randolph,
Chris Zucker, Karen Ranucci, Denis Moynihan, Eric Rweyemamu,
Jenny Filipazzo and Isis Phillips.
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